This comment covers the publishing years and sequence of publication of the three editions of James Mill’s collected ‘Political Essays. Introductory literature to these Essays is provided in the section ‘Notes & Literature’. Comments covering the 1823  edition of J. Mill’s ‘Political Essays’ are available in this collection at - https://archive.org/details/MillJames1823EssaysonGovernmentJurisprudenceLibertyofthePress.../page/n7     

When Archibald Constable (1774-1827) – “the prince of booksellers” (letter by J. Mill to A. Constable dated Oct. 18^th 1825) - appointed Macvey Napier (1776–1847) in 1814 to edit the Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica he contacted James Mill – among many leading scientists of the time.The result of the ensuing cooperation between J. Mill and M. Napier were 12 essays – listed below - which were first published in the Supplement to the fourth, fifth, and sixth editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica, London, 1824 (SupplEB) [1]:

"Banks for Saving," vol. 2, pp. 91-101, Dec. 1816

"Beggar," vol. 2, pp. 231-48, Dec. 1816

"Benefit Societies," vol. 2, pp. 263-69, Dec. 1816

"Caste," vol. 2, pp. 674-54, June 1817

"Colony," vol. 3, pp. 257-73, Feb. 1818

"Economists," vol. 3, pp. 708-24, Jan. 1819

"Education," vol. 4, pp. 11-33, Dec. 1819

"Government," vol. 4, pp. 491-505, Sept. 1820

"Jurisprudence," vol. 5, pp. 143-161, July 1821

"Liberty of the Press," vol. 5, pp. 258-72, July 1821

" Nations, Law of," vol. 6, pp. 6-23, April 1823

"Prisons and Prison Discipline," vol. 6, pp. 385-95, April 1823       [2]

None of the collectively reprinted articles from the SupplEB published during the lifetime of J. Mill show a printing year. In addition the two editions of the ‘Political Essays’ by J. Mill and discussed here have the same title-page. Needless to say, that the two latter facts have contributed significantly to the confusion about the timeline of the publications of the ‘Political Essays’ by J. Mill. (The articles addressed as ‘Political Essays’ are underlined in the list depicted above.)

The story of the reprints of the ‘Political Essays’ begins with a request by J. Mill addressed to the editor of the SupplEB, Macvey Napier, dated May 11th, 1820 cited by Alexander Bain [4] we read:

"I have yet to speak to you about an application which has been made to me as to the article on Government from certain persons, who think it calculated to disseminate very useful notions, and wish to give a stimulus to the circulation of them. Their proposal is, to print (not for sale, but gratis distribution) a thousand copies [sic!]. I have refused my consent till I should learn from you, whether this would be considered an impropriety with respect to the Supplement - To me it appears the reverse, as the distribution would in some degree operate as an advertisement." In addition Bain writes:                                                                                           

“Napier must have given consent to the re-printing of the article "Government” Hume, Grote, and I don't know how many others, subscribed for this reprint; and there were ultimately included all Mill's greater articles, which were bound in a volume, and privately disseminated.”  (Bain, p. 191)                                       

According to the above text provided by Bain, Mill’s permission was literally only requested for the Essay ‘Government’ – but Bain has not cited a few important additional lines in Mill’s letter of May 11^th 1820 to Napier:                                  

Mill’s letter continues with the leveraging idea: “If your [Napier’s] consent is with[h]eld, I shall be induced, I dare say, to throw the ideas into a different form, & allow the same parties to put publish them as a pamphlet.”[5]                              

With this ‘threat’ up in the air, it appears that Mill nudged Napier towards a symbiotic copyright relationship. Consequently all of Mill’s ‘Collected Political Essays’ contain a title page reference to the SupplEB: In the edition 1823: “Written for The Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica, and Printed by Permission of the Proprietors of the Encyclopædia. In the editions of 1824/5 & in this 1828 edition presented here: “Reprinted, by Permission, From the Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica.”                                                                                        

The edition of J. Mill’s collected ‘Political Essays’ presented here is the last of three reprinted and collected ‘Political Essays’ during the lifetime of J. Mill. These lifetime editions are the 1823 edition (containing four Essays) [see – https://archive.org/details/MillJames1823EssaysonGovernmentJurisprudenceLibertyofthePress.../page/n7 ] a 1824/5 edition - which is extremely rare and contains the same seven Essays using the same title page as this almost identical 1828 edition presented here. The Essays contained in the 1824/5 edition and those in the 1828 edition are underlined in the list shown above and listed in the respective title.

The 1824/5 edition of Mill’s ‘Political Essays                                                     

Taking a closer look at the publishing history of the two editions of J. Mill’s ‘Political Essays’ which used the same title page, reveals the following:                                  

In a letter from James Mill to John Ramsay McCulloch (1789-1864), dated August 18^th 1825, regarding a reprint of Mill’s ‘Political Essays’ in Constable's Miscellany of Original and Selected Publications, in the Various Departments of Literature, Science, and the Arts -  a serial established by Archibald Constable, (1774-1827) – details online at - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constable%27s_Miscellany ] Mill writes:       “I am gratified to learn that my essays are to be included. The information came in time to prevent another reprint, the second being all gone, and great demand remaining. It is much better they should be on sale. [However, while J. Mill’s Essays were announced to be published in this periodical, the publication of the Essays was never realized. [6]] As I have made several corrections and little amendments for these reprints, Constable should print from the last; and I should like, if there is time, to go over them once more with care; if I can make a little more perfect that which was originally very imperfect, being all of them written against time, I shall be anxious to do it for this occasion, which is an admirable one. As they are the text-books of the young men of the Union at Cambridge, their appearing early will contribute to advertise Constable's project in a quarter not very accessible to hawkers, though of first-rate importance. Speaking of the Union—that Society, which owes its origin chiefly to you and John, is in a most flourishing way—upwards of a hundred names, several members of Parliament, some Lords, all among the young men likely to have the leading influence in the affairs of the next fifty years of their country. The effects cannot but be important Good principles and talents will be equally advanced.” (Bain, p. 292 – emphasis by this commentator)                                                        

We learn from this passage

(a)  the second edition was sold out by August 1825 and “great demand remaining”

(b)  J. Mill had already “made several corrections and little amendments for these reprints” [which would have been the third reprint] in Constable’s Miscellany. Regarding these corrections and amendments see [7] 

The fact that the second edition of 1824/5 was already sold by August 1825 may be explained by a comment in The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL), Vol. III., (1969), col. 1549, Cambridge University Press, 1969-77, which states that only “50 copies” were printed of the 1825 edition. No source is provided for the cited quantity. But this number would explain why this edition is extremely rare and cannot be distinguished in library listings from the 1828 edition without further information.

As to the publishing year of the second edition of the collected seven ‘Political Essays’ the following information has been found:

R. Fenn reports in Vol. II of his Dissertation “In  a  review of Prisons  and Prison Discipline in The Westminster Review for April 1825,  there  is a reference  to this essay as  "one of seven which have  been  lately reprinted,  by subscription"” [8]. This Westminster Review quotation can be found online at - https://books.google.de/books?id=7moyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA285&lpg=PA285&dq=The+Westminster+Review+for+April+1825&source=bl&ots=WXcislQ6g3&sig=ACfU3U2dVCdEsozBUVMArk_0uQYUeCfI9Q&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilgpSO9KTgAhUSKewKHYngAEMQ6AEwEHoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=one%20of%20seven%20which%20have%20%20been%20%20lately%20reprinted&f=false

Once again Joseph HUME’s M.P., V.P. generosity helps to narrow down on the publishing year: Between December 1824 and December 1825 Joseph HUME M.P., V.P. donated to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce the book                                                                                                  

“Essays on I. Government, II. Jurisprudence, III. Liberty of the press, IV. Prisons and prison discipline, V. Colonies, VI. Law of nations, VII. Education, by James Mill, Esq…, 8vo.”                                                                                                                

See – Transactions of the Society, Instituted at London, for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, Vol. 43 (1825), pp. 299-308, p. 303, available oonline at - https://books.google.de/books?id=6xpbAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA303&dq=Transactions+of+the+Society,+Instituted+at+London,+Essays+on+I.+Government,+II.+Jurisprudence,+III.+Liberty+of+the+press,+IV.+Prisons+and+prison+discipline,+V.+Colonies,+VI.+Law+of+nations,+VII.+Education&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiBkrvHtqTgAhXLDuwKHVyMAawQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=Transactions%20of%20the%20Society%2C%20Instituted%20at%20London%2C%20Essays%20on%20I.%20Government%2C%20II.%20Jurisprudence%2C%20III.%20Liberty%20of%20the%20press%2C%20IV.%20Prisons%20and%20prison%20discipline%2C%20V.%20Colonies%2C%20VI.%20Law%20of%20nations%2C%20VII.%20Education&f=false

Finally there is a listing at the University of Cambridge Libraries, at the Trinity College Library possibly showing the title in question. It is a presentation copy by J. Mill to the Scottish Geologist Leonard Horner and the library entry contains a “Note: Copy note: annotated with author’s inscription to Leonard Horner (1824), signed Susan & Joanna Horner [daughters of L. Horner]. UkCU-TRI” (This commentator’s emphasis.)                                                                                                                

The  listing is available online at - https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=44CAM_CON5350007874&context=L&vid=44CAM_PROD〈=en_US&search_scope=SCOP_CAM_ALL&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=cam_lib_coll&query=any,contains,ESSAYS%20ON%20I.%20Government,%20II.%20Jurisprudence,%20III.%20Liberty%20of%20the%20Press,%20IV.%20Prisons%20and%20Prison%20Discipline,%20V.%20Colonies,%20VI.%20Law%20of%20Nations,%20VII.%20Education&offset=0                                                                                                                        

The publishing year in the library listing is given as [1828?]                                  

Why a copy with an 1824-dated author’s inscription in a book without publishing year could be assumed to have been published in 1828 escapes this commentator; but due to the presentation note this copy may well represent another copy of the second edition of J. Mill’s collected ‘Political Essays’.

To summarize: The likely printing period of the second edition of J. Mills collected ‘Political Essays’ appears to be late 1824 / early 1825. It seems plausible that the author had received in 1824 some advance copies of this edition to present to friends and acquaintances. This second edition is by far the rarest edition of the three collected editions of J. Mill’s ‘Political Essays. However, most copies with this title page are copies of the third edition of 1828.

Robert A. Fenn provided the printing-signatures of this second edition (1824/5) as follows [9]:                                                                                                       (Separated by commas the first alphanumerical expression is the printing-signature followed by a hyphen and the respective page number.)

Government: 2 I 2 – 3, 2 K - 9 ,   2 L -  17,  2 M  -  25 ,  2 M 2  - 27;

Jurisprudence: 2  N 2 -  3 ,  2 O -  9 ,  2 P - 17,  2 Q - 25, 2 R - 33,  2 S – 41; 

Liberty of the Press:  2 T 2 - 3, 2 U - 9, 2 X - 17, 2 Y - 25, 2 Z – 33;              

Prisons and Prison Discipline:  3 A 2 - 3,  3 B - 9 ,  3  C  - 17,  3 C 2 - 1 9;   

Colony: Y - 9, Z - 17, 2 A - 25, 2 B – 33;                                                               

Law of Nations:  Q 2 - 3.  R – 9, S - 17, T - 25, U - 33;                                    

Education:  2 C 2  - 3,  2 D – 9, 2 E -  17, 2 F -  25, 2 G - 33, 2 H - 41, 2 H 2 - 43.

The printing signatures seem to be the easiest manner to identify this second edition.

The 1828 edition of Mill’s ‘Political Essays’                                                           

As to the publishing date of the third edition of the collected ‘Political Essays’ by J. Mill presented here (in other words the year  - 1825 - printed on the spine of this book is wrong!), we are able to refer to a brief comment in Bain’s Biography of J. Mill:                                                                                                                         

“The date of the collected volume of the Essays, judging from the copy that I am acquainted with, is 1828. This may have been a third reprint; as we saw a second alluded to in 1825.” (Bain, p. 329)                                                                               

A second reference to the publishing date can be found in In John MARTIN’s (2nd. ed.), London, 1854, Bibliographical Catalogue of Privately Printed Books: We find the following entry on page 364:                                                                            

“ESSAYS ON GOVERNMENT, JURISPRUDENCE, THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS, PRISONS, AND PRISON DISCIPLINE, COLONIES, THE LAW OF NATIONS, AND EDUCATION.                                                                                                             

BY JAMES MILL, Esq., Author of the "History of British India."                      

Reprinted by permission from the Supplement to the                                 

“Encyclopædia Britannica." (Not for sale.) London. 1828 [10]

For all practicable purposes the easiest way to distinguish the 1824/5 edition - the second edition - from the 1828 edition - the (third edition) – of Mill’s collected ‘Political Essays’ are the different printing-signatures of the two editions in the following table. Please note the following display conventions:

Separated by commas the first alphanumerical expression is the printing-signature followed by a hyphen and the respective page number. The alphanumeric expressions in bold print signify the additional printing-signatures in the 1828 versus the printing signatures in the 1824/5 edition set in light print. The most likely reason for the additional printing-signatures in the1828 edition are the editorial changes Mill incorporated in the 1828 edition. Pls. see note [7] for comments.

Government: 2 I 2 - 3, 2 K - 9, 2  K 2 – 11, 2 L – 17, 2 M – 25, 2 M 2 - 27;

Jurisprudence: 2 N 2 – 3, 2 O – 9, 2 O 2 – 11, 2 P – 17, 2 P 2 – 19, 2 Q - 25, 2 Q 2 – 27, 2 R – 33, 2 R 2 – 35;                                                                        

Liberty of the Press: 2 T 2 – 3, 2 U – 9, 2 U 2 – 11, 2 X – 17, 2 X 2 – 19, 2 Y – 25, 2 Y 2 – 27, 2 Z – 33;                                                                                            

Prisons and Prison Discipline: 3 A 2 -3, 3 B – 9, 3 B 2 – 11, 3 C – 17, 3 C 2 – 19;

Colony: Y – 9, Y 2 – 11, Z – 17, Z 2 – 19, 2 A – 25, 2 A 2 – 27, 2 B - 33;      

Law of Nations: Q 2 – 3, R – 9, R 2 – 11, S – 17, S 2 – 19, T – 25, T 2 – 27,    U – 33;                                                                                                                       

Education: 2 C 2 – 3, 2 D – 9, 2 D 2 – 11, 2 E – 17, 2 E 2 – 19, 2 F – 25, 2 F 2 – 27, 2 G – 33, 2 G 2 – 35, 2 H – 41, 2 H 2 – 43.         [11]

Notes & Literature

[1] More information online at - https://www.britannica.com/topic/Encyclopaedia-Britannica-English-language-reference-work/Supplement-to-the-fourth-fifth-and-sixth-editions ; The six volumes of the SupplEB are available online at - https://archive.org/search.php?query=Supplement%20to%20the%20fourth%2C%20fifth%2C%20and%20sixth%20editions%20of%20the%20Encyclop%C3%A6dia%20Britannica%2C%20London%2C%201824

[2] This list – modified – is sourced from: A Project of Liberty Fund, Inc., Online Library of Liberty, The Political Writings of James Mill 1815-1836, available online at - http://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/james-mills-political-writings . A similar list can be found in FENN Robert A(nthony), [LSE] Dissertation. (1972), James Mill's Political Thought, Vol. II – Appendix, p. 46. A compilation by David Hart of all the original articles by James Mill from the SupplEB can be found online at - http://davidmhart.com/liberty/EnglishClassicalLiberals/MillJames/EncycBritannica/MillArticles-Supp_Encyclopaedia_Britannica-1824.pdf )

[3] Available as Community Text at - https://archive.org/details/gri_33125011196868 

[4] Alexander BAIN, James Mill, A Biography, London: Longmans, Green and CO., 1882, p. 191. Cited as “Bain”. Available as Community Text at - https://ia801604.us.archive.org/20/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.263197/2015.263197.James-Mill.pdf

[5] Robert A. FENN (ed.),  A Textbook for Utilitarians - James Mill's Articles in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 1816-1823, second revised draft edition, second printing, privately printed, Dec. 1991, Toronto University, Appendices, p. 503

[6] see: Archibald Constable and His Literary Correspondents: A Memorial by His Son Thomas Constable, Vol. II, Edinburgh: Edmonton and Douglas 1873, page 375, footnote 1, available online at - https://books.google.de/books?id=vJQLAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Archibald+Constable+and+His+Literary+Correspondents&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjMx7m0iI3dAhXMsKQKHfJpC2UQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=Among%20the%20earliest%20works&f=false

[7]  Arthur  Laurence  LAZENBY, James Mill ; The formation of a Scottish émigré writer, 1972, Dissertation, University of Sussex, p. 304, footnote 87 writes in reference to these corrections: “In a letter to  M'Culloch  18 August 1825 on the  subject of reprinting his articles,  Mill  expressed  a hope of  being  able  to  make  revisions  in  order to "make  a little  more  perfect that which  was  originally very imperfect, being all  of them  written  against  time"  (Bain,  p.  292)… Mill's  wish  to  revise  was  not  idle ; he made  substantial  alterations  in expression  and  style  to  the  articles  which  were  reproduced  in  the  1828 edition by J.  Innes, as is  clear  when  the  original  Britannica  text  is  compared to  the  reprints  of  the  article  "Education"  in  James  Mill  on Education,  ed. W. H.  Burston, Cambridge  University  Press,  1969, and  the  article "Government"  as  reproduced  in  An  Essay  on  Government  by James  Mill,  ed. Carrin  V.  Shields, New  York, Bobbs-Merrill,  1955; the modern reprintings followed the 1828 text.”

[8]  Robert A(nthony) FENN, [LSE] Dissertation. (1972), James Mill's Political Thought, Vol. II – Appendix, p. 33

[9] ibid p. 81-82

[10] The listing can be found online at - https://books.google.de/books?id=q4hWAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA364&dq=Printed+Book+1828+James+Mill&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjt7OX8rIjdAhVKjqQKHcB-AesQ6AEIOjAC#v=onepage&q=James%20Mill&f=false Other editions of Mill’s ‘Political Essays’ were not listed in this catalogue.

[11] As noted before the printing-signatures for the 1824/5 edition have been taken from Fenn’s Dissertation (see note [8]). The printing-signatures for the 1828 edition were taken from this commentator’s 2 own copies which were then compared with the printing-signatures of two further online copies of the 1828 edition. These online-copies are: The ‘Goldsmiths Library’ [Gale] Copy – access permission required - Document:
http://find-1galegroup-1com-1yy1kecrs028a.zugang.nationallizenzen.de/mome/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=MOME&userGroupName=1gbv&tabID=T001&docId=U3604594079&type=multipage&contentSet=MOMEArticles&version=1.0&docLevel=FASCIMILE

and a ‘Google Books’ Copy available at – https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QadDtxXI_itVeUO3cVLJ1KYHe6ib9-S27JGQidhvKS3AFivsQ7RVKYzdCAOfYYDvd74m8zeRZerVqCWvFfMbUJfDOerDMFl9YK1Uv1z5KRZnBzikE3jJVBNPn7-0CdrhesBcXxTlHD74dabyQWHCte7SJfYPoe4_EleXV48XLXz23u-TSA23jI8rCNNsPCWhDqOB123ebgNJ8-wSUf7EHQVAxjXIUmmc-QZZjW4wqV7Acuibc_FL0j1Yay0LHGmalWSA0LOeciCqYx96VkCc-U08zjnbqJFYhMa6kCITvda2Eruw83k

Literature:

Historical Background to J. Mill’s ‘Political Essays’

Eric EVANS, (2011) A British Revolution in the 19th Century? http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/revolution_01.shtml

Life and Work of James Mill

Terence BALL, James Mill, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), available online at - https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/james-mill/

David BRINK, Mill’s Moral and Political Philosophy, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), available online at - https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/mill-moral-political/

Other Works by James Mill online

Online Library of Liberty - James Mill, available online at -  https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/james-mill

Robert A(nthony) FENN ed., (2010), James Mill's Common Place Books, (ed.), avaialable aonline at - http://www.intellectualhistory.net/mill/contents.html

Joseph HAMBURGER, (1965), James Mill and the Art of Revolution, New Haven, Yale University Press

Bibliography of James Mill An exhaustive Bibliography of James Mill’s writings can be found in FENN Robert Anthony, 1987, James Mill’s Political Thought, New York, Garland Publishing Inc., titled: Concise list of the works of James Mill p. 156-186. A surprising aspect of this bibliography is that R. A. FENN (1934-1993) in his unusually extensive research never stumbled upon the fact that the 1828 edition of James Mill’s ‘Political Essays’ did actually exist. FENN attributed the library dates 1828 attributed to some editions of J. Mill’s ‘Political Essays’ in part “…from the fact that T.B. Macaulay launched his famous attack on the four essay edition in 1829. This has led many commentators to believe that this edition was published in 1828.” (*)  And indeed, the title of the famous contribution by Macaulay in The Edinburgh Review (March – June, 1829, pp. 159-189) supports this impression. The title reads:

“ART. VII.—.Essays on Government, Jurisprudence, The Liberty of the Press, Prisons and Prison Discipline, Colonies, The Law of Nations, and Education. By JAMES MILL, Esq. author of the History of British India. Reprinted by permission from the Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. (Not for sale.) London, 1828.”                               Available online at - https://books.google.de/books?id=GEk7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA159&lpg=PA159&dq=%22Of+those+philosophers+who+call+themselves+Utilitarians%22&source=bl&ots=kLiQyTjX0S&sig=ACfU3U0X5lwPbMqaOBqR2pMxsYgsRm2YLQ&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjardTe5angAhUFLlAKHVmuDKQQ6AEwAXoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Of%20those%20philosophers%20who%20call%20themselves%20Utilitarians%22&f=false

(*) Robert A(nthony) FENN, LSE Dissertation. (1972),  James Mill's Political Thought, Vol. II – Appendix, p. 80.

All internet-links in this comment have been accessed in February 2019.